The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on the Premier of Queensland and all elected members to bring pressure to bear on the Federal Government to immediately abandon plans for Emissions Trading.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, said that at a time of world economic crisis, the last thing productive Queensland industries need is the threat of this destructive policy hanging over them.

“Emissions Trading and its carbon taxes must harm Australian industry, and Queensland will suffer most.

We are assured there are real environmental or climate benefits from all this sacrifice and warned of dire consequences if we do not act immediately. Prophecies of climate doom issue weekly from the pulpit of CSIRO.

However, there is growing scientific evidence and opinion that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere does not control the climate. Thus all the resources spent on attempting to limit or remove it will be totally wasted

The New York Times had an article on the upcoming carbon dioxide auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) of 10 northeastern U.S. states participating in this new cap and trade program (h/t Adam Zemel at the BT blog). The evolving performance of RGGI should add weight to the argument that cap and trade is simply not up to the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here is an excerpt from the NYT article:

The program is due to get off the ground in nine days, but already there are worries that it may fail to reduce pollution substantially in the Northeast, undermining a concept that is being watched carefully by the rest of the country, by Congress and by European regulators. . .

The concept has been praised by environmentalists and state officials. But the emissions cap was based on overestimates of carbon dioxide output, which has dropped sharply from 2005 to 2006 and is on a lower trajectory than anticipated.

This means that there are more emissions permits available than emissions (can you say ETS Phase 1?).

Al Gore says everyone will benefit when new government rules require companies to pay to reduce global warming. But some people will benefit more than others, as will some companies. Benefiting most are those like the ex-vice president who can set up and invest in companies that will profit from the federal regulations imposing heavy costs on others.

Did you know that about 97 percent of the C02 emitted into the air is created naturally? It comes mainly from decaying plants, forest fires, and volcanoes. We ought to ban dying plants and volcanoes, and Smokey The Bear needs to go to jail. Roughly 3 percent of it is caused by humans.

How about the fact that our convenient energy-saving bulbs contain mercury? That makes me feel great. It seems that a lot of people are capitalizing on our guilt.

When you print something in the computer lab or the library, the supposed “print limit” is there to make you feel guilty so you’ll print less. There’s no real print limit. Click on the details button and you’ll be taken to a page showing how many trees you’ve killed, how much C02 you’ve created, and how much energy you’ve used. But don’t fear, there are many places to put your money to ease your guilt about this. You can buy made-up things called carbon credits, or you can wait until there’s a carbon tax implemented.

Do you feel terrible about deforestation? Well the good news is we’ve been gaining forestland since 1985. How about some more fun facts? There is no scientific mechanism out there proving C02 causes global warming. Furthermore, “global warming,” as we understand it, hasn’t been proven to exist. Even if it did exist, we would not know what to do to fix it, if we could even fix it at all.

It was interesting to read the news story “California jobless fund nearly broke” (The Reporter, Sept. 11), although given the current economic conditions, it is certainly no surprise.

A California judge recently decided that the Highway 50 widening project in Sacramento will be postponed until a thorough review has been completed to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions that will be emitted from this project.

The irony is that as far as freeway projects go, this is perhaps one of the most environmentally friendly jobs to come along, and much needed. This widening project would add lanes for carpools and mass transit – how environmentally friendly can you get?

What is the connection between the bankrupt Lehman Brothers and the likelihood that in four years’ time our electricity bills will jump another 25 per cent (on top of the rises likely from soaring coal and gas prices)?

The answer is that, before its collapse, Lehman was pitching to become the leader in the vast trade created by the new worldwide regulatory system to “fight climate change” by curbing emissions of carbon dioxide.
The biggest money-spinners will be the schemes whereby industry will pay for permits to emit CO2 at so much a ton, either directly to governments or by buying them on an international market.

This market, soon to be worth trillions of pounds, was where Lehman hoped to be “the prime brokerage for emissions permits”, as it set out in two hefty reports on “The Business of Climate Change”.

Advised by some of the world’s leading global warming activists, such as Dr James Hansen and Al Gore (a close friend of the firm’s erstwhile managing director Theodore Roosevelt IV), Lehman bought their message wholesale. GIM, the company set up by Gore to sell “carbon offsets” in return for planting trees, was a prized Lehman client. (more…)

Al Gore’s carbon trading business GIM was banked with Lehman Bros. It will be interesting to see how this will play in the future but I suspect that this increases the risk of participating in Carbon trading. Merrill Lynch was also deeply involved in this business.

Last year Lehman Brothers released a long and highly publicized report about climate change in which they preached about decarbonization, trying to make their investors keep getting high profits from the Kyoto carbon trade scheme and the support of huge public subventions. All that, of course, with the applause of the usual choir of politicians, the entire media and the Greens.

Last year Lehman Brothers released a long and highly publicized report about climate change in which they preached about decarbonization, trying to make their investors keep getting high profits from the Kyoto carbon trade scheme and the support of huge public subventions. All that, of course, with the applause of the usual choir of politicians, the entire media and the Greens.

A year ago they couldn’t predict their bankruptcy but were predicting the climate 100 years ahead. Thousands of green militants have been using the Lehman report as a proof of global warming and impending chaos. Lehman Bros said it! sacred words! Its scientific advisor is James Hansen! The report is the basis for policies on climate change in Spain, Argentina and several other countries playing the progress game; it is used by economy professors playing the climatologists; by newspapers editorials, and even by a State Secretary: Lehman Bros, said it!